Governor Steve Sisolak announced Nevada will consider adopting new standards requiring a higher percentage of vehicles sold in-state be electric. “Its really looking to the future; electric vehicles coming, spur it on, bring it a lot of benefits to all people whether or not you decide to buy an electric vehicle,” said Susan Nedell, of […]
Clean Energy Unemployment Claims in COVID-19 Aftermath, May 2020More than 620,000 U.S. clean clean energy workers have lost their jobs since March after 27,000 new workers filed unemployment claims in May, according to the latest analysis of unemployment data by BW Research for E2, E4TheFuture, and the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE).
The analysis of Department of Labor data found that 620,590 workers in clean energy occupations, representing 18.5% of the industry’s workforce, filed for unemployment benefits in March, April, and May. The number of jobs lost is more than double the number of clean energy jobs created since 2017.
While the speed at which clean energy jobs are being lost declined in May, there are increasing concerns about the number of energy-related jobs that are being supported by the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The majority of clean energy firms in the U.S. are small businesses, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Meanwhile, the construction sector (the largest segment of the clean energy economy) is the largest recipient of PPP loans, at more than 13 percent. The expiration of the employment window of PPP may result in a fresh round of layoffs in clean energy if there is no further intervention.
The continued job losses in May and forthcoming PPP expiration indicates it will be very tough for the clean energy sector to return to its economy-leading jobs growth without significant intervention from Congress and state governments. Given the size of the clean energy industry (nearly 3.4 million jobs in every state, pre-COVID-19) that could cast a pall over the nation’s broader economic recovery.
Before March, clean energy had been one of the U.S. economy’s biggest and fastest-growing employment sectors, growing 10.4% since 2015 to 3.4 million jobs at the end of 2019. That made clean energy by far the biggest employer of workers in all energy occupations, employing nearly three times as many people as the fossil fuel industry.
| Sector | March Claims (adj) | April Claims (adj) | May Claims | Total |
| Energy Efficiency | 103,298 | 309,584 | 18,880 | 431,762 |
| Renewables | 23,739 | 71,705 | 4,272 | 99,717 |
| Clean Vehicles | 11,399 | 35,070 | 2,059 | 48,528 |
| Grid & Storage | 6,517 | 19,666 | 1,166 | 27,349 |
| Clean Fuels | 2,186 | 10,390 | 657 | 13,233 |
| TOTAL | 147,139 | 446,416 | 27,035 | 620,590 |
| State | March Claims (adj) | April Claims (adj) | May Claims | Total Claims |
| US TOTAL | 147,139 | 446,416 | 27,035 | 620,590 |
| California | 27,583 | 77,815 | 4,313 | 109,712 |
| Texas | 5,965 | 25,170 | 1,709 | 32,844 |
| Florida | 3,963 | 25,949 | 2,563 | 32,475 |
| Michigan | 7,867 | 22,245 | 1,012 | 31,124 |
| Georgia | 1,909 | 25,282 | 1,741 | 28,932 |
| North Carolina | 9,124 | 17,138 | 955 | 27,217 |
| Pennsylvania | 8,283 | 12,780 | 571 | 21,634 |
| Washington | 5,646 | 14,433 | 1,163 | 21,242 |
| New York | 6,006 | 13,868 | 848 | 20,722 |
| Ohio | 6,929 | 12,879 | 612 | 20,420 |
For a full breakdown of clean energy jobs losses in each state, see the full analysis here.
The complete report is available for download at this link.
A live press conference was held announcing the report’s findings on June 15, featuring:
To download and listen to the one-hour press conference, click here.
The analysis expands on data from the 2020 U.S. Energy and Employment Report (USEER) produced by the Energy Futures Initiative (EFI) in partnership with the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO), using data collected and analyzed by the BW Research Partnership. The report was released in March 2020 and is available at www.usenergyjobs.org. E2 is a partner on the USEER, the fifth installment of the energy survey first released by the Department of Energy in 2016 and subsequently abandoned under the Trump administration.
If you are looking for additional insight into this report or E2’s more than a dozen other annual clean energy employment reports, visit e2.org/reports. You can also contact E2 Communications Director Michael Timberlake ([email protected]).
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California is indisputably a world leader on climate action — and that commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions has driven substantial economic growth, from $66 billion in clean energy investments to nearly 540,000 clean energy jobs. With the state’s transportation sector — and the fossil fuels that power it — accounting for nearly half of […]
As the California Air Resources Board considers the Advanced Clean Trucks rule to bring clean trucks to market at the scale necessary to help California meet its 2030 emission reduction target and achieve its goal of carbon-neutrality by 2045, 268 California private sector leaders, investors, entrepreneurs, and other business professionals signed onto this E2 letter […]
Clean Energy Unemployment Claims in COVID-19 Aftermath, April 2020Nearly 600,000 U.S. clean clean energy workers have lost their jobs since March after 447,208 new workers filed unemployment claims in April, according to the latest analysis of unemployment data by BW Research for E2, E4TheFuture, and the American Council on Renewable Energy.
The analysis of Department of Labor data found that 594,347 workers in clean energy occupations, representing 17.8% of the industry’s workforce, filed for unemployment benefits in April and March. The number of jobs lost is more than double the number of clean energy jobs created since 2017. Before March, clean energy had been one of the U.S. economy’s biggest and fastest-growing employment sectors, growing 10.4% since 2015 to 3.4 million jobs at the end of 2019. That made clean energy by far the biggest employer of workers in all energy occupations, employing nearly three times as many people as the fossil fuel industry.
The job losses are across a wide variety of occupations, and in every state. Energy efficiency workers are losing their jobs after being shut out of homes and buildings to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Solar and wind turbine companies are laying off workers as they’re unable to access panels and parts stranded in shut-down factories and as financing disappears. Factory workers are being let go as assembly lines for Energy Star appliances and electric and hybrid vehicles are ground to a halt.
| Sector | March Claims (adj*) | April Claims | Total Claims |
| Energy Efficiency | 103,298 | 310,188 | 413,486 |
| Renewables | 23,739 | 71,835 | 95,574 |
| Clean Vehicles | 11,339 | 35,101 | 46,501 |
| Grid & Storage | 6,517 | 19,685 | 26,202 |
| Clean Fuels | 2,186 | 10,398 | 12,584 |
| INDUSTRY TOTAL | 147,139 | 447,208 | 594,347 |
| State | March Claims (adj.*) | April Claims | Total Claims |
| US TOTAL | 147,139 | 447,208 | 594,347 |
| California | 27,583 | 77,860 | 105,443 |
| Texas | 5,965 | 25,227 | 31,192 |
| Michigan | 7,867 | 22,284 | 30,150 |
| Florida | 3,963 | 25,915 | 29,878 |
| Georgia | 1,909 | 25,251 | 27,161 |
| North Carolina | 9,124 | 17,293 | 26,417 |
| Pennsylvania | 8,283 | 12,810 | 21,093 |
| New York | 6,006 | 14,398 | 20,405 |
| Washington | 5,646 | 14,593 | 20,239 |
| Ohio | 6,929 | 12,869 | 19,798 |
For a full breakdown of clean energy jobs losses in each state, see the full analysis here.
The complete report is available for download at this link.
A live press conference was held announcing the report’s findings on May 13, featuring:
To download and listen to the one-hour press conference, click here.
The analysis expands on data from the 2020 U.S. Energy and Employment Report (USEER) produced by the Energy Futures Initiative (EFI) in partnership with the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO), using data collected and analyzed by the BW Research Partnership. The report was released in March 2020 and is available at www.usenergyjobs.org. E2 is a partner on the USEER, the fifth installment of the energy survey first released by the Department of Energy in 2016 and subsequently abandoned under the Trump administration.
If you are looking for additional insight into this report or E2’s more than a dozen other annual clean energy employment reports, visit e2.org/reports. You can also contact E2 Communications Director Michael Timberlake ([email protected]).
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447,208 new unemployment filings in April, triple March claims CA, FL, GA, TX, MI, NC, WA, NY, OH among hardest hit states Energy efficiency job losses top 400,000; renewable job losses near 100,000 WASHINGTON, DC – Nearly 600,000 U.S. clean energy workers have lost their jobs since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic after 447,208 […]
Moreover, clean energy has been an American success story: employment in the sector has grown by 10.4% since 2015, according to Clean Jobs America 2020 — a report sponsored by E2 and researched by BW Research. In 2019, clean energy made up 40% of employment in the energy industry and 2.5% of the nation’s overall […]
America’s reliance on petroleum continues to be a risk to our national security, our economy and our environment. The current crash in oil markets—and the job losses, industry bailout requests and increased vulnerability to foreign powers such as Russia and Saudi Arabia that come with it—is but the most recent example. At the same time, […]
“Lawmakers simply cannot ignore the millions of electricians, technicians and factory workers who work in clean energy as they consider ongoing economic recovery efforts,” said Keefe. “Imagine how quickly the White House would be moving if if about 50K coal workers and all those petroleum workers were suddenly out of a job”- @bkeefee2
More than 106,000 clean energy industry workers lost their jobs in March alone. A half-million clean energy workers could be jobless in the months ahead if Congress and state lawmakers don’t step up and do more to support what has become one our nation’s biggest employment sectors. Of course, many Americans are struggling. Nearly 22 million […]
On March 10, just before the COVID-19 crisis swept across the country, Oregon Governor Kate Brown made climate action history. By signing an ambitious and far-reaching executive order, Governor Brown positioned Oregon to reduce the emissions driving climate change from a broad range of sources across the Oregon economy while priming the state’s clean energy economy for […]
More than a year’s worth of job gains erased in a few weeks Analysis forecasts industry could lose more than 500K jobs in months ahead CA, NC, PA, MA, MI, NY, OH, TX, WA, IL among hardest hit states More than 106,000 clean energy workers lost their jobs in the month of March, and hundreds of thousands […]